'Suspicious device' in Catonsville was inert grenade

A suspicious-looking gadget that turned out to be an inert grenade — not capable of exploding — prompted a temporary evacuation in Catonsville Sunday.

Baltimore County police responded to a call about a suspicious device in the 100 block of Montrose Manor Court just after 1 p.m. Residents in the apartment building there were allowed back in after police checked it out and determined it wasn't dangerous.

Inert grenades — both real and novelty — have caused scares before. Just last week, police in Fairfax County, Va. shut down a stretch of road while the bomb squad moved in on a suspected explosive left outside a store. It turned out to be an actual grenade, but its interior parts had been removed.